Written by CJ Hubbard Updated: 23 July 2025

Overview

Should you buy an Aston Martin Vanquish Volante?

There is a lot to love about the latest range of cars from Aston Martin, and the Vanquish Volante is another top-drawer example. For something so large and expensive, I found it remarkably unintimidating to drive – yet it offers an addictive open-air experience on the open road, with very few peers.

Performance is sensational, but so too is the ride comfort and the handling. Refinement with the roof up is impressive, while roof down there’s relatively little buffeting, if you take the time to put the windblocker in place. The cabin is beautifully finished and combines the very latest tech – including Apple CarPlay Ultra – with lots of proper physical controls.

It won’t always be the easiest thing to see out of, and I can’t help wishing it sounded a touch more thrilling. It’s also not for me to say whether you think it’s worth the extra it costs over the slightly smaller but still superb Aston Martin DB12 Volante. You’ll have a great time trying to decide between one of these or a Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider, that’s for sure. For some the only solution will be to buy both…

---

What’s new?

New for 2025, this is the convertible version of the latest Aston Martin Vanquish Coupe supercar, and the very top of firm’s ‘grand touring’ range if you want to feel the wind in your hair. That’s to say, unlike the Valkyrie and forthcoming Valhalla, the Vanquish Volante still has the appearance of a recognisably conventional road car. Rather than something that’s escaped from a racing track. Or outer space.

18

I’m not here to judge the looks, but in this rarefied sector of the car market it’s important to make an impact. The Vanquish Volante undeniable does that. From the air-hungry front grille to the sleek silhouette – something Aston has worked hard to optimise while still accommodating an automatic folding fabric roof – this is an eye-catching car. Not least because at nearly five metres long it’s a substantial presence.

But have the stylists done enough to differentiate it from the Aston Martin DB12 Volante, one rung down the ladder and very similar in appearance? A key difference is the extra 80mm in length the Vanquish has between the front wheels and the windscreen, since this makes room for the exclusive 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 under the bonnet.

With a humungous 835hp, this delivers a serious performance upgrade over the already very fast DB12, which is powered by a 680hp Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V8. In fact, it’s enough to give the Vanquish a higher top speed than the only direct front-engined V12 convertible rival, the Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider.

What’s it like inside?

The doors open with a slight upwards arc, and you tumble into a cabin that’s lined with leather and carbonfibre, and of deeply consistent high-quality. The instrumentation and the infotainment are powered by Apple CarPlay Ultra – Aston Martin being the very first brand to bring this tech to market.

First impressions are excellent. This large car carries just two people, so there’s plenty of room inside. A good range of adjustment in the seats and steering column should make getting comfortable straightforward, though you’re seated so far inboard that seeing out might be a concern. Fortunately, Aston has done a great job of making the Vanquish Volante easy to handle.

18

The roof lowers in 14 seconds, using a bespoke aluminium controller on the centre console; raising it again takes 16 seconds, and the ceremony can be activated on the move at up to 31mph – handy if you’re not stopped at the traffic lights for as long as you thought.

Aston claims the fabric top is better insulated and more refined than the fixed roof of the Vanquish Coupe; there wasn’t one on hand to directly compare but the Volante is certainly cosy and quiet in full weather-proof mode. Taking up a depth of just 260mm when folded, the convertible design contributes to the sleek lines and the boot space.

At a compact 219 litres with the roof closed, falling to 187 litres when it’s folded, the Vanquish Volante’s boot still isn’t very large (even at its best it’s 90-litre smaller than a Vauxhall Corsa’s). But you should be able to get a couple of reasonably sized suitcases inside.

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante engine

The heart of the car, if not quite it’s most remarkable feature (we’re getting to that…), Aston’s 5.2-litre V12 is immensely powerful. As well as 835hp, which peaks at a relatively unlofty 6,500rpm, this mighty motor provides no less than 1,000Nm of torque (pulling power) from 2,500rpm to 5,000rpm. All of this is sent to the rear wheels only, via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Aston finesses the torque figure slightly in the default GT driving mode, to reduce the chances of overwhelming the first four gears. But if you want to feel the full force of that capability, switch over to Sport, which is all the torque in every ratio and has a more responsive throttle map. Sport+ dials the throttle back again but keeps the muscle, in an effort to make the Volante easier to control at its absolute maximum – limits you’ll only ever sensibly reach on a race track.

18

There’s a Wet driving mode as well. This isn’t engineered to restrict performance so much as make it more manageable – allowing safer progress in poor weather, at considerable speed should you require it. Lucky for me, it didn’t rain during our initial encounter, so I’ll have to take Aston’s word about that.

I can, however, attest to the dry weather performance. And the Vanquish is very, very fast – a clever Boost Response system does its best to eliminate the lag sometimes associated with powerful turbo engines, and it’s exceptionally easy to make very rapid progress. The official 3.4-second 0-62mph time and 214mph top speed serve to underline this.

What it’s not is always especially tuneful. It doesn’t make an awful noise, by any means, but even with the optional titanium exhaust, it’s more FAST than melliferous. Blame the turbos, and perhaps the latest official noise regulations.

What’s it like to drive?

That the Vanquish Volante would be quick was really a given. What you might not expect from something so big and fast and expensive, is just how easy it is to drive. Especially as this welcome trait has been achieved without diluting the enjoyment you get from putting it through its paces.

18

This is testament to a great deal of work by Aston Martin’s engineering department, because in spite of how natural, authentic and – above all – consistent it feels in its responses, there is a huge amount going on beneath the surface. Complex electronics, adaptive suspension, torque vectoring by brake and a variable electronic limited slip differential have all been tuned to behave in near perfect harmony in order to balance the breadth of capability a grand tourer of this kind now needs to exhibit.

The steering is a real highlight. Using a fixed-ratio rack and eschewing any form of direct rear-wheel steering, this is fabulously linear and immediately allows you to place the Vanquish with confident conviction. This not only makes it easy to drive hard, but also a doddle around town. The car is set-up to be fundamentally agile, with Aston using the e-differential to calm its responses for higher-speed stability, rather than exaggerate or compensate for missing dynamism.

The result is a real treat to fling around – not quite with abandon, given the forces and ferocity involved, but it’s certainly lots of fun. Making it even more so is the underlying competence and quality of the adaptive suspension. Using the same tech as the Vanquish Coupe, this has an impressively broad range of adjustment.

18

In GT mode, it turns the Volante into a comfortable long-distance cruiser – without the whole thing going to jelly in corners. In Sport and Sport+, the amount of vertical movement is reduced for better control, but still delivers remarkably refined poise over bad surfaces. You’ll feel things more, but it’s not utterly punishing; an acceptable compromise for the additional sense of reaction.

Aston co-developed the Volante alongside the Coupe in an effort to minimise the inevitable structural compromises – but cut the roof of any car and there’s going to be some kind of impact. Even with additional bracing, you can still feel the Vanquish shimmy over particularly rough surfaces, but with so many other sensations going on I didn’t feel like it came close to ruining the experience.

What models are trims are available?

There are no individual trim levels for the Vanquish Volante, but there is a seriously high-grade options list. And beyond that, Aston’s bespoke Q division, which can make even your wildest dreams come true if you’re prepared to throw enough cash at them.

At this level, the world is your oyster when it comes to building the perfect automotive indulgence.

On the next page we’ll recap our likes and don’t like about the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, and you can view our in-depth star ratings. Or read about how we test cars to find out why you can trust us.